There was no formal announcement by Giants or co-owner John Mara on Wednesday that Dave Gettleman is returning as general manager.
Asked about it, Mara smiled and said, ‘Well, he’s coming back, if you want a formal announcement about it.’ ‘
Obviously, it wasn’t something that was weighing on Mara’s mind, if he needed to leave Gettleman. The reason for the return is not entirely based on the team’s performance – the Giants this season finished 6-10 and, once again, did not make it to the playoffs – but rather on the way in which Gettleman and Joe Judge, the first technical year holder, worked as allies in their first year together.
“He and Dave worked very well together,” said Mara. “I found that all of our personnel decisions have improved significantly this year. They were able to basically agree on every decision we make. I thought our draft was solid, our free agency moves were solid and I think we have the basis for something that can be very successful going forward. “
Gettleman, who turns 70 next month, went from 9 to 23 in his first two years running the entire football operation. There is no change in the structure of how the organization seeks and seeks players.
“The general manager and the head coach collaborate on personnel decisions,” said Mara. “Hey, I don’t agree 100 percent of the time, but my dad [franchise patriarch Wellington Mara] used to have a saying, ‘If you two agree all the time, then I don’t need you both.’ I never had to intercede to break any ties.
“They were able to talk and resolve, they showed good communication and at the end of the day the decision that is made is a decision by the New York Giants, not a decision by Joe or Dave. They collaborated very well and that is one of the reasons why I am optimistic about our future.
“I just didn’t think making a change at this point was going to be beneficial.”
Mara praised Judge’s work in his first year as head coach at any level. The Giants started 0-5 and were 1-7 in the middle of the season, but recovered to go 5-3 in the second half of the season.
“Looking back a year ago, I can say that we are very satisfied with the selection we made as the head coach,” said Mara. “I thought Joe did a very good job, considering what he had to deal with.
“Here you have a new head coach at the age of 38 and see what he was called to deal with, a pandemic, no off-season program, no mini-camp, no preseason games, virtual meetings, protocols that constantly changed and he lost his best player [Saquon Barkley] in week 2. I thought he showed great leadership and great adaptability, nothing seemed to bother him during the year. Something has to change, he just made the change and we started from there. I thought he showed real leadership, courage and determination all the time. I thought he represented our franchise very well, the way I want our head coach to represent our franchise.
“I thought he established a great foundation and a great culture, I know that the word ‘culture’ is overused, but I think it is very important and I think we have the beginning of a very good culture here. ”
The record and the loss of the playoffs after finishing second in the historically bad NFC East were not acceptable, Mara said, but he saw signs that the franchise is moving in the right direction.
“Obviously I’m not satisfied with the number of games we’ve won,” said Mara. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t do better than 6-10, but I see progress in construction. I think the quality of the people we have in the locker room has improved a lot. I think we have some great leaders there. I think we have laid a foundation for a foundation that can have continued success in the future and I am excited about what the future holds for this team. ”
Mara said: “There is a different feeling in the building now that it has been around for several years. ”
Mara was asked how long fans would have to wait until the Giants produced a winning team.
“Well, I hope not much more because I can’t wait much longer, frankly. I’m tired of sitting here at the end of the year trying to explain what went wrong and why I feel optimistic about the future, ”said Mara. “I want to do this after a winning season. ”